The Road To Raleigh: Goal Horns, Sound Tigers, and Bears- Oh my!

(Charlotte Checkers, via LTD)

There were plenty of goals to go around this week for the Checkers down in Time Warner Cable Arena. The pace was fast and furious late in the week. With this much scoring, who was picking up points? All the details after the jump.

The Checkers entered the week of games riding their seven game point streak which propelled them to second in the division. After a tight regulation win over the defending Calder Cup champion Hershey Bears, the Checkers entered the rematch on Tuesday with high expectations.

Results:                                                              Attendance:

Tues. Nov. 9th- vs. Hershey  L 2-5                    3,659

Thurs. Nov. 11th- vs. Bridgeport W 6-1             3,717

Fri. Nov. 12th- vs. Bridgeport W 6-5                  7,454

East Division Standings: (As of Sunday, November 14th, 11:40 A.M)

Who Is Hot?:

Chris Terry- LW  5 G  4 A, 8 GP

Terry enjoyed the pleasure of honorable mention last week, and continued to stay hot, despite a small drop off in production. Dating back to last week, Terry has 5 goals and 4 assists in his last 8 contests.

Zac Dalpe- C  4 G  0 A  3 GP

What Dalpe lacks in assits, he makes up for in his ability to score. Dalpe had fantastic production this week including a two goal effort Friday night against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers.

Oskar Osala LW- 1 G  6 A  3 GP  +5

Checkers fans all over the place have wanted this man to be listed in the "hot" list. Finally, the young power forward has had himself a week to remember. Osala notched a whopping 7 points in his 3 games this week, and he stands at a plus 5 through those games. Osala also saw a young woman in the stands hold up a sign reading: "Osala will you marry me?" Shortly after the sign appeared on the jumbo-tron, Osala tipped in a shot from Casey Borer for his goal. What a week for the Finnish powerforward.

Oskar Osala may have been looking at the boxscore of the Hurricane's loss to Philly on Thursday after the game in this picture below.

(Oskar Osala, via LTD)

Jacob MicFlikier LW- 3 G 4 A  3 GP

No one could ignore MicFlikier this week. He notched the first hat trick of his career, and of Charlotte's short American Hockey League history on Thursday against Bridgeport. He followed that up with a 3 assist night in the Bridgeport rematch on Friday, and tallied an assist on one of the two goals against Hershey.

Who Is Not?:

Nick Dodge C  0 G  0 A 3 GP  -5

Dodge had a tough week. Counted on to be a primary penalty killer, he accomplished this but little else. His lack of production was matched with a minus 5 on the week.

(Nick Dodge, via LTD)

Jared Staal RW  0 G  0 A  1 shot

I didn't want to put little Staal here, I really didn't. However his poor skating and lack of production saw him become a healthy scratch for Matt Kennedy who earned his first point of the year in Friday's game versus Bridgeport. Staal is young, and will have more opportunities to succeed, but he's taking the long route.

Drayson Bowman LW 0 G 1 A  -2  3 GP

Bowman had a rough week. He didn't see a whole lot in the way of points, but he did add an assist on a late goal by Jerome Samson.

Future Watch:

An interesting argument going forward in the coming weeks will be whether or not the Canes should make a shuffle with the defensemen they have. As Bob and others pointed out- perhaps Jamie McBain needs time on the first pair and first powerplay unit of the Checkers to hone his skills. Would this sort of playing time help his development? There is a good chance. Brett Carson would likely be the first choice for a callup among Checkers defensemen. He has remained a steady force in the lineup and Iit was very nice to have him back for the two games this week in which he was a plus 2.

Bowman's production dipped this week. Jerome Samson notched a respectable 4 points (2 G 2A), and continues to be a man among boys in puck possession, especially along the boards. Dalpe has an explosive first step and is an offensive force to be reckoned with every night. Boychuk's production dipped, but he did score a goal against Bridgeport.

Injuries and Scratches:

As previously mentioned, Staal sat out for two games this week, in place for Matt Kennedy. Kennedy got his first point of the season in young Staal's place. Pogge was pulled Tuesday against Hershey after allowing 2 goals on the first 3 shots of the game, and gave way to Mike Murphy. Pogge had a bounce back performance starting against Bridgeport on Thursday in a win, allowing only one goal. Borer was back in the mix Thursday and Friday. Carson was back in first pair duty after his reassignment to Charlotte. Stefan Chaput was shaken up after blocking a shot on Friday night against Bridgeport, but didn't miss any shifts. Brad Herauf and Brett Bellemore were both healthy scratches in the two games against Bridgeport as well. The Checkers have a lot of extra bodies, which is a good problem to have for sure.

Next?

The Checkers have gotten through a tough stretch. Games very close together against quality opponents such as Portland and Hershey. Now things calm down just a bit. This coming week features only 2 games against Adirondack. The Phantoms come into Charlotte last in their division, and they will face a Checkers team that will sit right here in Charlotte waiting for their arrival.

Wed. Nov 17th- vs. Adirondack  7 P.M

Fri. Nov 19th - vs. Adirondack  7 P.M

...And now.. drumroll please.. we have the debut of Checkers trivia. Every Road To Raleigh, prepare yourselves for a trivia question cleverly (or at least competently) designed by yours truly. There may not be enough trivia to go around for JUST the Checkers, but you can always expect an interesting question about the history of hockey here in Charlotte and in other parts of the south. How much do you know CC readers?